sunshine, a few high clouds, 46. 5:00 45, sunset today at 5:02 standard time. storm system down in georgia and south carolina, this is the energy that's going to turn into the nor'easter that will come up the coast. here are your freeze warnings. they're not out west. you've already had your freezes. your growing season is over, and, you know, once the growing seon ends, they don't issue the freeze warnings any longer. 20s, mid- to upper 20s in the shenandoah valley, fredricksburg at 25, gate gaiftersburg at 26. it's 30 in andrews and even on the eastern shore, easton down to 29 degrees. your high temperatures today upper 40s to around 50. bundle up. 6:00 a.m. straight up, here comes monica, we've got trouble in maryland, we got troubles in virginia. >>reporter: we do. and i'm going to start with virginia. i was just on the phone literally a minute ago with prince william fire chief brody and he tells me that the investigation, the cleanup, all of that continues at an accident scene over in manassas right here, prince william

parkway at balls ford road. it was a truck and a vehicle, a diesel fuel spill, entrapment, the works, so stay away from that. they should hopefully reopen it shortly. but in the meantime just go ahead and use sudly road as your alternate route. 66 is not affected coming in from manassas to centreville and fairfax, you should be okay. let's take a live look outside and show you what it looks like here on the northbound side of 395, looking good at duke street. 14th street bridge is now bunching up. let's go back over to our maps. this time we're going to head all the way to 270, coming southbound, that's what howard was referring to. it's very slow and heavy out of fredrick, past 109 to 121. on the beltway itself, it's still green, college park into silver spring, so that's good news. and a live look one more time outside, here's what it looks like at the 14th street bridge. i'll be back with more coming up at 6:11. back to you guys. i guess you've heard, today is election day. >> who knew? >> president obama has made his final pitch to voters and now he's waiting. he held rallies in ohio, wisconsin and iowa yesterday. the iowa event was at the same

location as his first campaign rally as a presidential candidate five years ago. the president and first lady michelle obama are in chicago where they'll spend election day and watch the results roll in. mitt romney was working until the very last minute in hopes of winning the election. he this morning and off to cleveland and pittsburgh, the rallies with supporters there, hoping that they head to the polls and cast a ballot for him. pennsylvania has long been a democratic stronghold. well, outside groups, including super pacs, nonprofit advocacy groups have spent nearly $53 until just on virginia senate race alone which is the top in the nation. >> we get to kristin fisher who's at washington elementary school in alexandria where george allen is voting voting this morning. good morning, kristin. what can you tell us? has the candidate arrived? >> apparently we're having --

>> there she is. good morning, kristin. >>reporter: good morning. well, it is a very chilly election morning, but that hasn't stopped virginians from getting out early. look at this line outside the washington mill elementary school in mount vernon. it's at least, almost 200 people deep and the polls just opened, people just started going in. and right now we are all awaiting the arrival of one of the candidates in virginia's closely watched senate race, george allen. he should be arriving any minute now to cast his vote, then the republican and former governor is going to be heading down to richmond to watch the returns come in, and that's where his opponent is going to be for most of the day, democrat tim kaine. now, this race is absolutely critical because it could very well determine which party is going to control the senate. this race has received more money and maybe even more attention than any other congressional contest in the country. and it's been a dead heat for the last year.

a new poll out just yesterday, though, gave a slight edge to tim kaine, just three points, well within the margin of error, though. but it's an edge that the republicans could easily offset with organized and aggressive turnout. now, if the turnout here is any indication, i mean, look at these lines at just 6:00 a.m. it's going to be a very long, very cold day with big lines throughout the state of virginia. no doubt, though, both candidates, george allen and tim kaine, they are preparing for a very close race and a very long nerve-wracking night. we're awaiting the arrival of george allen, he should be here any minute and we'll bring it to you coming up. back to you mike and andrea. >> thank you, kristin, talk to you in a little bit. in addition to the presidential race, there are quite a few important races on the ballot today that will be decided by voters. in maryland the most controversial in the gay marriage ballot provision. if it passes, the state would be the first one to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote. marylanders will also vote on

the so-called dream act ballot initiative. if that passes, undocumented imgrants would be allowed to pay in-state tuition costs at community colleges and there's also question 7 that would allow for a casino in prince george's county and table games at five other gambling venues. coe cohen is live in fort washington. she has more on the discussions and initiatives going on today. good morning, coe. >>reporter: good morning, mike. well, this has been such a talker in maryland, especially in prince george's county because it would directly affect them, even though all of maryland is voting on the possibility of gambling expansion. now, if the signs for and against question 7 are any indication, we should see a lot of people voting here, a lot of protesters and supporters here in front of the polling places. we saw the lights go up on the building behind us. now, prince george's county executive richard baker is one of the people that is pushing for question 7 to pass. you've seen him in the tv ads, you may have seen one of those

ads as you were watch this morning. -- as you were watching thorntion. more than $80 million has been spent on tv advertisement for and against question 7. now, there has been a lot of people disagreeing and -- disagreeing on this issue, especially on tv. here's what both sides have to say. >> the promise of 12,000 jobs, both permanent and in construction is something that we can't overlook. >> any dollars coming from the casino into education in maryland only replace existing school dollars, netting no change for education funding. >>reporter: now, a lot of this talk has been about money, money for the county, money for the state, money for schools possibly. but a lot of people are saying also that there are social issues tied to gambling. the possibility here is that maryland could vote for

question 7, prince george's county voters vote against question 7, a possibility is that table games could still be added because that's one part of the question, but that doesn't mean that they would be automatically a new sixth casino in maryland put up if prince george's county majority of voters say no. we're live in fort washington, coe em, 9 news. back to you. >> thank you. in our campaign 2012 coverage, we now go over to jessica doyle at the election wall. >> she's looking at early voting and its possible impact on the outcome of this year's election. jess. >>reporter: good morning to both of you. it used to be on election day, you would stand shoulder to shoulder with members of your community in a national show of democracy in action. this year, though, election day has become more like election month. 30 million people have already headed to the polls to cast their ballots. this is a new record for early voting and we have a decent idea which way the political wins are -- winds are blowing, at least in terms of the early birds.

now, the votes are giving a slight edge in the presidential contest to president obama over challenger mitt romney. now, keemed these are very thin -- keumed these are very thin results from -- keep in mind these are very thin results. this election will likely come down to independent voters. also some states have reported a heavy turnout of registered democrats versus republicans. this is still an incredibly close race. there also have been plenty of problems with early voting this year. hurricane sandy forced some last minute scrambling along the east coast. there are already concerns of ballots being destroyed or possibly even going missing. in virginia early voting was delayed, and in florida voters waited in long lines, as long as four hours in the sun. now we're back here at the election wall. in 30 minutes we're going to go inside the dream act, what maryland voters need to know as they head to the polls today. andrea and mike, back to you. >> thank you, jessica. in virginia the polls are now open and they'll be open until 7:00 p.m.

in maryland and the district the polls will open at 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. you can learn more about all the local candidates and ballot questions at wusa9.com. click on campaign 2012. and be sure to join us tonight for complete coverage of all the races. coming up will the hispanic vote surprise america on election day? heavily courted by both presidential candidates. when we return, we'll take a look at how the latino vote has become a core of the u.s. election scene.

howard here with your weather first and a cold but dry election day. we start with maybe just a couple of cloud here and there, but overall a sunny day. we'll have temperatures in the middle 40s at lunchtime, struggling to get close to 50 degrees and your 5:00 p.m. temperature 45. i'll be back in just a few minutes, talking about tomorrow's nor'easter and the rest of the seven-day forecast. in hipa valley, accident cleanup continues on route 1 just south of the mount vernon highway affecting both directions of route 1 there. 95 looks pretty much like this coming up from newington to springfield. i'll also have more coming up on an accident in manassas at 6:15. mike. >> thank you, monica. both presidential candidates we've seen them court hispanics in this election. it's one of the country's fastest growing demographics. in fact, latinos make up about 10% of the electorate.

max is director of the for affairs which latino elected and appointed officials. thanks for joining us and getting up early on this election day. it's going to be a busy day for you. >> thanks for having me. >> we appreciate it. historically we've seen a large percentage of the latino vote goes to democrats. it looks like with the way polling is concerned it's going that way again this year. what are some of the biggest issues that affect the latino population and may sway their vote? are we talking about the economy, social concerns, immigration, something i haven't mentioned, maybe? >> we project that approximately 12.2 million latino voters will show up in these elections. so they'll make a key difference in deciding who the next president will be and also the state on u.s. congress. when polled, latinos usually say that they have the same concerns as average americans. they talk about the economy, they talk about jobs. people get confused and think that for the latinos immigration is the number one concern, it's not. but it sets the tone for the rest of the conversation.

>> it's sort of like an emotion that gets things going. >> absolutely. it's part of the community feel. >> and all of us need a job. >> absolutely. >> and that's one of the major functions. because it is a historical voting block for the democrats, can you say or would you say that they might take the latino vote for granted and maybe they could do a little more to service voters in that block? >> well, it's very interesting, the latino vote is really the key independent vote because they break for both parties historically. >> no kidding. >> so it's really talking about the interest of the community that gets the latino voter to favor one party or another. >> and oftentimes it seems that it's been historically the democrats, so the message seems to agree with a large percentage of latino vote? >> well, this election polls suggest that three latinos will break for president obama as opposeto governor romney, but that is an election to election case, absolutely. >> it's different each time out. one of the interesting things that have come out in many

voting bloxes that seem to lean democratic over historical purposes have to do with the issue of gay marriage. there are many latinos that are of catholic faith which the tenants disagree with gay marriage. does religion ever enter into the equation or is it more jobs and the other things you mention snd >> again, priorities are their wallets, the interest of their family, the interest of their community, so we're talking about things like the economy, jobs, education, healthcare, immigration and some other issues that affect the community personally. this election we encourage everyone to go out and vote. we've got a hotline, 888-vote and we are there to monitor the election, provide election protection and if anyone has got any sort of questions with regard to where to vote or how to vote, we encourage them to contact us. >> and one of the other issues too is the dream act in maryland, people that are here illegally can actually have an opportunity to pay in-state tuition costs. has that been a big point of discussion as well? >> yes, it has been, and it has

been both in maryland, at the state level, it's also been an issue at the national level. >> we'll have more on the dream act coming up in just a little bit. max, thanks for joining us. andrea, over to you. here's howard, he has a cold forecast. we're still in the upper 30s, but you've got a warmup later in the seven-day? that's amazing. >> yeah. we're talking about the threat for a little bit of snow maybe on the eastern shore tomorrow. but tomorrow we'll be in the 60s, maybe even 70 on sunday. yes, that's november for you. you get sort of the differences there. >> coat, jacket. >> winter is not quite here and fall is not quite over yet, even though the days have been getting colder and this morning is one of those cold days. >> yes. >> we start you out with a look at the day planner. we'll back it up. they've got my temperatures there. i want to show you the day planner here because the sky is really, really cool across areas -- if i can get the computer to cooperate. it's really, really cool across areas to the east now, as we're coming in toward the sunrise hour here in just a little while. there we go.

we got some breaks in the cloud cover, so partly sunny this morning. sun is up in about 20 minutes or so here and we're looking at temperatures which will be warming into the mid-40s by lunchtime. a little bit of a northeast wind, but not bad, five, eight miles an hour today, partly to mostly sunny skies, high temperature 49 and then by 5:00 we're back down to 45 degrees. so bundle up as you head out and this morning we've got temperatures in the mid-30s in town, some mid-20s in the suburbs right now with 30 degrees on that wind chill an east/northeasterly wind at six miles an hour, humidity stands at 70%. we're talking about the cold in the northeast, and the northern plains. it's rather warm in the southwest. phoenix will be 92 today. but the cold that's in place, it's going to help with some snow, some early snow, especially across areas just to our north and east. here's a developing nor'easter. the energy is coming out of georgia. it's going to get to the coast and make the turn north. remember sandy came up north, but this is not sandy, still a problem, especially for those

areas along the jersey coast that have very little protection left after sandy, you know, the dunes and many houses are just in bad, bad shape. well, this is going to be coming up the coast with the cloud. here comes the rain. and tomorrow to our east we're likely to see the rain and snowfall mainly east of the bay, especially up toward jersey and new york state, but around here a glancing blow at worst. today 49, tonight into the 30s with the clouds, so not as cold. nor'easter tomorrow, a little breezy, 45. some rain and snow showers generally east of us. and then thursday sun returns, 53. as we head toward the weekend, we got warmer temperatures. saturday 66, so a nice day for the heart walk at nats park and 67 on sunday for the ravens. monica, good morning tou. >>reporter: we've been getting questions as to what potentially could be happening on 270, and, really, it's incident free. it's just a slow, slow traffic this morning. in fact, a long slow stretch, 16 miles an hour off and on as

you leave fredrick and then it gets really slow as you head from 109 toward 121, and then suddenly it breaks loose down past that toward gaithersburg and rockville. let's take a live look near route 109 on the southbound side on our mdot camera. this is what you're dealing with. all the lanes are open, it's just very, very slow and heavy this morning. let's go back over to our maps and this time we'll head out west where there's accident cleanup continuing for a good two hours now here on route 234 on balls ford road, prince william parkway at balls ford road. again, that accident cleanup continues. hopefully they'll have it wrapped up in the meantime. use sudly road as your alternate. here's springfield on the northbound side, off and on delays from dale city to wood bridge and morton as you head up toward the beltway. i'll have more coming up at 6:25.

welcome back. 6:22. your weather first on this chilly tuesday morning, election day 2012. no weather excuses not to vote today, although it is on the chilly side. so just bundle up. here's our day planner for you. we've got temperatures where are starting in the 20s and 30s. we'll be in the mid-40s at lunchtime, a mix of sun and clouds, but those are high cloud. we really should have a decent amount of sunshine today with a high of 49. and by 6:00, already dark and 44 degrees. good morning, everybody. if you thought the first nine weeks of the season were rough, wait for the next seven. the redskins have five divisional games left to play and a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks. head coach mike shanahan obviously disappointed with his team's performance sunday against carolina. they got embarrassed at home against a one-win team and in his post-game press conference, shanty said in part "now we're playing to see who obviously is

going to be on the football team for years to come." now, those comments got folks wondering if he's thrown in the towel for this season. shanahan says it was misunderstood. >> when you talk about five games in the nfc east and two in the afc, we're just starting our nfc east tour, to think that we would play young players or suggest that we play young players and the season was over with is completely ludicrous. >> mike shanahan not too happy. now, the referees admitted that they incorrectly awarded panther's danville williams a touchdown in sunday's game. a ref blew an inad vertent whistle during the td run, but after review they upheld the call. the rules say the panthers should have been given a 1st down, not a touchdown. the injuries keep piling on at maryland. they just can't get a break. they announced yesterday that linebacker demetrius hartsfield, the team's leading tackler is out for the season with, get this, a torn acl.

he becomes the fifth player to go down with a knee injury. that's a quick look at sports this morning. remember to get out and vote today. i'm kristin berset, have a great tuesday. we return, team coverage of election day campaign 2012, we break down the issues for you. >> we are looking at not only the presidential race, but the local races that are important to you. we'll have more up next. >>reporter: and on the northbound side of 395, your brake lights begin here at duke street. they continue to seminary road and then the pace is still pretty good for the 14th street bridge. i'll have details on other road coming up in my next report. you're watching 9 news now. we'll be right back. 

welcome back. 6:28 on this tuesday morning. it's cold outside. i got the gloves and jacket on. temps running in the 20s and 30s. thankfully the winds are light in most areas. here's the day planner. we'll have a good deal of sunshine. you can see some clouds mixing in there, although these are generally some high cloud, not doing too much to dim the sun. it's going to be a chilly day, noontime temp at 46 and by 5:00 back down to 45. and another reminder, the sunset at 5:02. sunrise in about 12 minutes. storm system down in georgia, throwing some moisture up toward the carolinas and tennessee and even a little mountain snow. while we may see some snow east of us tomorrow, looks like this is going to be a glancing blow. freeze warnings until 9:00 this

morning with your current temperatures down in the mid- to upper 20s in many of the suburbs, like 25 in fredrick, 28 culpepper, 25 in cumberland and 35 in d.c. next time i see you, we'll be talking about that nor'easter and a seven-day warmup headed our way. right now here's monica with time saver traffic. >>reporter: in manassas on the prince william parkway over at balls ford road, you'll want to watch out for continuous cleanup of an early morning accident. it involved a fuel spill and entrapment, so kind of a mess there south of i-66. and, again, authorities are still there. so go ahead and use sudly road as your alternate route. coming in from manassas to centreville on 66 itself, the lanes have been open all morning long. let's take a live look outside. i'm going to show you what it looks like on this other interstate, northbound i-95, usually this is tough, but this morning i would say it's pretty normal as you come up from dale city to wood bridge and then again here coming up off and on from lawton to springfield, this is what you will deal with, both the main and h.o.v. lanes heading to 395.

we'll go back to the maps and also 270 which has also been a bit of a pain, southbound side only going 16 miles an hour. very slow and heavy from route 109 down to 121. let's take a live look and show you what it looks like. the lanes are open and very slow and heavy here, jam packed, and then it just kind of breaks free as you head to rockville. i'll be back with more traffic at 6:43. back to you guys. mpletion along with the race for the white house, there's another tight race, two former governors, democrat tim kaine and republican george allen, they're battling it out for the seat democratic senator jim webb is vacating. >> this one is snug. the outcome could determine whether or not the democrats keep their narrow u.s. senate majority. let's go to kristin fisher. she's live in alexandria where george allen is voting this morning. did we see him yet, kristin? >>reporter: we did. he showed up about 20 minutes ago. he spoke with a few people who turned up to vote. he's inside right now getting

ready to cast his vote. before he went in, i just wanted to ask him, how are you feeling on this election day. take a listen to what he had to say. >> feel real good. the enthusiasm, the help and the prayers of so many people across virginia that susan and i have been hearing and feel, really, we're excited. we're looking forward to going out and winning today and changing the course of america's history in a way that people do have truly an opportunity to catch their dream. >>reporter: now, from here george allen says he's going to be hitting up several other precincts in fairfax, loudoun county, that's an area that's going to be very closely watched in this congressional race and in the big presidential race. but george allen is going to be finally making his way down to richmond. that's where he's going to be watching the returning come in later tonight and that's where his opponent is right now, tim kaine. he's going to be casting his vote in richmond, and, you

know, we've been saying it all along, but this race absolutely critical because it could very well determine which party is going to control the senate. this race has received more money, perhaps even more attention than any other congressional contest in this country. and for the last year, it's been statistically pretty much a dead heat. now, there was a new poll out yesterday that gave a slight edge to kaine, just three points, but it's an edge republicans could easily offset with organized, aggressive turnout. i asked george allen about that poll today. he says he's not worried about it in the least. he said he was very heartend by the amount of people that had turned up early, even before the polls opened. before the polls opened at 6:00 a., there were about 200 people lined up here. they're all now inside, but i know that we're seeing great turnout at polls sites throughout virginia. virginians know this year our vote really does count, both in this race and in the presidential race and people are out here, they're very excited to make their voices

heard. back to you. >> all right, kristin fisher reporting live from alexandria, virginia. in addition to the presidential race, there are some other important contests and issues on the ballot today in maryland. one of the most controversial is gay marriage. if it passes, the state would be the first to approve same- sex marriage by popular vote. marylanders will also vote on the dream act ballot initiative. if it passes, undocumented immigrants would be allowed to pay in-state tuition at local community colleges. there's also question 7 which would allow for a casino in prince george's county and table games in five other gambling venues. coe em is live at a polling site in washington. good morning, coe. >>reporter: good morning, andrea. you mentioned there are multiple parts to question 7. people here and in washington will vote in less than a half an hour. take a look at how long the line is already for people that have come in this morning and they'll have to think about

whether or not they're going to add table games to existing and planned casinos in the states and whether or not they want a new sixth casino in prince george's county that will likely be at the national harbor. we're going to go over to the line and speak to one voter who has already made up his mind on question 7, mr. jerry mathis. good morning. why are you voting agnst question 7? >> i'm voting against question 7 for reasons that may be different from others. they have given us the illusion of inclusion whereby we have mgm and penn national spending millions and millions of dollars, pushing our buttons, bamboozling us pushing the buttons of education and jobs. there will be no money toward education because if it was about money, we would not be lower in the school systems now when we send more per pupil than the school systems that are up there. i think they need to bring this back to the table where we as a people can control the destiny

and not people that are controlling us with their money. >>reporter: so obviously you have a very important say in prince george's county. thank you so much. we're going to go over -- we're actually joined by a representative from the executive's office, mr. jerry hudson. now, how do you respond to voters who are kind of against the executive's position? >> well, essentially i think the answer is that there will be money for education, there will be jobs, 6,000 jobs, 2000 construction jobs, 4,000 permit jobs and there will -- permanent jobs and there will be money for education as has been said numerous times. >>reporter: thank you so much. now, you're hearing from both sides. you heard from them on multiple that has been running. the results will come in tonight. we'll see if there will be table games and if there will be a new casino. back to you. >> thank you, coe, em in our campaign 2012 coverage. we go to jessica doyle. she's at the election wall and she's looking at the dream act in maryland and what it can

mean to you. jess. >> thanks, andrea. if you're headed to the polls today in maryland, you will be asked to vote on question 7. now, this is the controversial referendum on tuition rates for undocumented immigrants, the less controversial piece extending those rates to military personnel. if you vote yes and it passes, this referendum would allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at community colleges in maryland. it would also allow those students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. this is after they complete 60 credit hours or graduate from a community college in maryland. here's the impact on military personnel. the dream act would extend the time to four years after honnary discharge to qualify for in-state tuition at public universities. in terms of opponents who want you to vote no on the dream act today, they argue that preferential tuition should not going to undocumented workers. they have concerns that this

dream act will actually draw more undocumented workers to the state of maryland specifically because these benefits are available. a recent "washington post" poll shows a lot of support for the dream act. 59% of people polled said they are likely to vote yes on this measure, 35% are opposed. and some background to help you decide which way you want to vote today, an estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high schools every year. if passed, maryland would become the first state to approve a measure like this, providing tuition assistance for undocumented workers. it's estimated the program will cost the state of maryland $3 1/2 million a year. andrea. back to you. >> jessica, thank you. and when we return, we'll look at an unscientific forecast on who will be our next president. >> we have an interview with executive chef of objection dental grill and -- occidental grill. he has the cookie recipe.

welcome back to 9 news. it's 6:42 and 35 degrees. chilly outside. and an overturned vehicle authorities are dealing with in the district in southeast on fort davis road north of pennsylvania avenue. that one just came in. again, an overturned vehicle. look at all this slow traffic. we've been dealing with this for about an hour or so, solid as you head down from 109 to 121, only going about 16 miles an hour if that. we'll take a live look a little further south on 270. here it looks great, from falls lane down to where the road divides. it kind of breaks free after you leave clarksburg and germantown. now let's go over to our maps. again, a long-standing accident. this one has been south of i-66 here in manassas on prince william parkway at balls ford road. it was a tractor-trailer, a car, a fuel spill and also entrapment, so that's why it's

taking so long to not only clean it up, but also to investigate what's going on. i was on the phone with fire chief there as well, prince william fire chief, and he tells me that's what the deal is through that area. but he also tells me that 66 is not affected coming in from manassas to centreville and over to fairfax you're going to be okay. let's take one more last look live outside, closer to the beltway, bunching up as you exit here at 495. i'll be back with more and a look at the big picture at 6:58. back to you guys. >> thanks, monica. if you're waiting in line, bring one of these, you can put your hands on it. get out to the polls and vote. >> i don't know what the rules are. mike says you can bring coffee. >> yeah. >> tea would probably be okay also. about this nor'easter everybody is talking about. >> we're going to get a nor'easter, but a glancing blow for us. new jersey, parts of new england, they'll get much harder with the wind and waves on the coast and some snow inland. even here we may see a couple of wet flakes, wu the best

chance, if there's any chance of anybody seeing a buildup, it'll be on the upper eastern shore, not west of the bay. here's a look at day planner for you on this tuesday morning, election day 2012, temperatures start out 20s and 30s. by lunchtime we should be about 46, northeast winds at seven, so just a slight wind chill under partly to mostly sunny skies. and this afternoon 46 at 4:00 p.m. now, about 2:00 or so, we may get to the 49-degree high that i'm forecasting and back in the low 40s at 8:00 with more clouds. cloutdz are really going to thick -- clouds are really going to thicken up overnight, keeping us from being as cold as this morning where we have mid- to upper 20s in many areas like cumberland at 25, culpepper is at 27. even across the bay, we've got upper 20s in easton, warm spots being down at the pautuxent naval air station. janice right on the bay, no freezing weather for her yet. kind of a neat sky out there. 35 degrees. mostly cloudy being reported at reagan national with a wind chill of 30 right now, thanks

to that east/northeast wind at six miles an hour. nor'easter that mike and i were talking about? well, it's taking shape, coming out of north georgia. here's the energy, it's going to get to the coast and start to move up toward the north and the northeast which means it's going to be parallelling the coast, but far enough offshore that we're just going to get a glancing blow. let me show you the futurecast and you can see what i'm talking about, where we're watching the moisture coming up the coast here by this evening, so eastern north carolina, clouds start to build overnight. in the morning, look at this, most of the rain in the morning is in coastal areas. we're just cloudy, even some sunshine out towards the shenandoah valley. then as we head towards the middle of the day, that's not just rain, there's snow on the del marva, up through southern new jersey, up to the coast, cold enough for that. for us just a little rain or wet snowflakes mixing in as it looks like most of this stays east and northeast of us. but there could be respectable snows in interior parts of new jersey and new england wednesday night before the storm pulls away. here we go, today 49.

tonight 39. colder north and west. tomorrow 45. that nor'easter just giving us a couple of rain or snow showers here. shouldn't amount to too much. but thursday we're back to 53. friday is looking warmer, 58. 66 on saturday. join me for the heart walk in the morning at nats park and sunday it could be near 70. andrea, over to you. i'm here in the kitchen, over the stove getting warm. we've heard from the experts, now we're going to take an unscientific prognostication at the presidential elections with the patrons of 7-11 deciding the 2012 presidential election. so far barack obama would be the winner. the convenience store chain started selling large coffee in red cups for mitt romney or blue cups for obama on september 6th. so far obama has 59% over romney's 41%. there's also a couple of other retail indicators in obama's favor. one is the sale of a halloween mask which has sold more briskfully for the president than for the romney mask. and first lady michelle obama went head to head with ann

romney with her cookie recipe. and here to see if the white and chocolate beat out the m and m trees is rodney scrugs. he's head chef at occidental grill and seafood. thanks for being with us. how did this contest unfold, how did you decide who was the winner? >> what we basically did is start 10 weeks ago. we took family circle. what they do is they brought the recipes, and then we decide to have a little bit of fun with it and go ahead and involve the first lady or the first lady-to-be with their cookie recipes. so anyone that would come to the occidental, both lunch and dinner, inside and outside on our patio would receive one romney cookie and one obama cookie. >> and we have the cookies on the plate. what do we -- what was in the michelle obama cookie and what was in the ann romney cookie? >> what we have, michelle obama cookie is a white and dark chocolate chip with walnuts and

mint andes candy in there. and then in ms. mitt romney's cookie -- what is in ms. romney's cookie is peanut butter and m and ms and raisins. last night we closed our polls. >> drum roll, please. >> we went 53% for obama, 46% for romney and then we always have that 1% of undecideds. >> there are a lot of undisieds. >> yeah. >> family circle has also been a predictor of the outcome of the presidential race and done pretty well. >> yes, that's correct. there's only been once since family circle has started doing that that senator mccain's wife won the cookie but obviously he didn't come in as president for us. >> exactly. we can't just have dessert. what are you fixing? >> real quick, if you come to occidental, we'd love to have you on election night. it's also a great place for an inauguration. we sit a block and a half from the white house. so we do what we have on the menu, pan roasted artichamber

of commerce. we go ahead and put that on there. we have braised endive with potatoes. then we're going to go ahead and char here at the last minute, as you can tell. then we have a little bit shih tzu pepper that we take care. we'll take this off. then we sit that on top. >> i didn't know there was a shih tzu pepper. >> yeah. and then we have a consomme, that is a lobster broth, shellfish broth with a little bit of lobster oil on there. >> sounds good. and you can still taste a cookie at occidental seafood and grill. >> absolutely. >> thanks for coming in and thanks for providing this for us. >> you're quite welcome. >> we'll be tasting cookies later on. i'm not a mint-flavored person. >> come down and see us. >> mike, back to you. >> that smells wonderful. andrea, thank you. time to answer the question of the day. here is the question one more time, according to usa today, 26% of american teenagers have never done one of these things,

is it, a, write a check, b, write a letter, or, c, use a traditional landline phone. one of our facebook friends thinks the answer is a, write a check. checks have gone by the way of the typewriter, she says. the answer is a, write a check, 26% of teens have never done that. we'll be right back.

welcome back. 6:54, your weather first. we've got a few clouds out there right now, but overrule overall today a sunny day. -- overall a sunny day. get started early. mike or andrea, go ahead. >> thanks, howard. here's a check of the news

before we go at 6:54. voters in maryland will be voting on several things, ballot initiatives, gay marriage is one of them, the dream act ballot initiative 2. if that passes, undocumented immigrants will be allowed to pay in-state tuition at community colleges. also there's question 7 that talks about a casino in prince george's county and table games at five other gambling venues. two former governors, democrat tim kaine and republican george allen are battling it out for the seat senator jim webb is vacating. the outcome could determine whether democrats keep their narrow control of the u.s. senate. weather and traffic one more time when we come back. keep it here.

welcome back. a chilly start. we've got some 20s still out there. this afternoon sunny, 49. nor'easter tomorrow, just misses us to the east, so some rain and/or snow showers, but

eastern shore might see a little buildup on the grass during the afternoon and evening. 45. thursday we're back to the 50s and nice warm weekend, heart walk saturday morning at nationals park. join me out there and anita as well. monica. >>reporter: i was just on the phone with prince william fire chief brody and he tells me the situation pretty much remains the same in manassas at prince william parkway at balls ford road. the accident has been there since 4:30 this morning. a look at 270, everybody has moved downstream, it's now montrose road to the split. as for wall street, asian markets were higher this morning, but everybody is looking at the election, including wall street, so woo will follow that. >> guess who else is looking at the election. >> "cbs this morning"? what do you know. >> we'll be back in 25 minutes with a live look at traffic and weather. >> don't forget, wusa9.com. have a great day, don't forget to vote and we'll see you